Elderly in care homes given 'unnecessary' drugs

Elderly in care homes given 'unnecessary' drugs

A huge increase in drug prescriptions supports fears that thousands of people in nursing and residential homes are being sedated for no medical reason.

A report claims as many as 88,000 pensioners are being kept under a 'chemical cosh', turned into zombies and stripped of their dignity simply to make life easier for their carers.

Drawn up by MP Paul Burstow, it shows how in one year - 1999-2000 --prescriptions of anti-psychotic drugs for the over-60s rose by some 70 per cent, from 252,700 to 428,800.

In the same period, prescriptions of this type among the community as a whole rose by only six per cent.

The report cites research suggesting that 10 per cent of residents in care homes have psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations and paranoia, yet around 30 per cent are regularly given medication for them.

Mr Burstow's report says: 'Projecting from research in the UK and abroad, it can be shown that over 35,000 elderly people in nursing homes and up to 53,000 in residential homes are being given anti-psychotics inappropriately.'

And it warns: 'As many as one in five admissions to hospital are linked to inappropriate drug therapy.'

Mr Burstow, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for the elderly, is demanding a new system of inspection for care homes, along with guidance on drug use from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.

He said: 'These figures are very frightening. With serious shortages of specialist staff and little chance of attracting more, care homes are turning to chemical cocktails to make residents easier to manage.

'Successive governments have failed to tackle this abuse of vulnerable elderly people.'

The MP first raised the issue in after Labour came to power in 1997, and was told it was a matter for individual GPs.

'This is simply not good enough,' he said. 'The Government has spectacularly failed to look into a problem that is blighting the lives of thousands of older people and their families.

'New research and prescribing guidelines are urgently needed, along with investment in special-ist dementia training for staff to end the use of what amounts to a chemical straitjacket.

'We must ensure that prescriptions are appropriate to the needs of individuals in the care homes, rather than being geared to the desires of the people running them.'

Mr Burstow pointed out that elderly people with dementia are more likely to suffer severe side-effects from such drugs than the young, because they are often taking medication for other conditions at the same time. For this reason, medical guidelines stress that old people should be given drugs only in very low doses.

A Help the Aged spokesman said: 'This report lifts the lid on one of the worst scandals concerning the treatment of older people. It is appalling that such a large increase of the use of anti-psychotic drugs has gone unchecked.'

The Alzheimer's Society said: 'People with dementia are too frequently given powerful drugs merely to manage their behaviour.

'Current guidelines don't go far enough to ensure that older people, in particular those with Alzheimer's who are unable to give their consent, are only given drugs which are in their best interests.'